Lively retelling of Homer's Odyssey, telling of the wanderings of Ulysses and his adventures with the giant Cyclops and the enchantress Circe as he makes his way home to his beloved Ithaca. There, after slaying the suitors who have been wooing his wife Penelope, he is reunited with his family after twenty long years. Ages 8-12

168 pages

$9.95

MENELAUS'S STORY

[121] THE next day Menelaüs said to Telemăchus: "Tell me now
on what business you have come. Is it on some affair
of your own, or is it something that concerns the
State?"

Telemăchus answered: "I have come to see whether you
can tell me anything about my father. No one knows
whether he is alive or dead. And I am in great trouble
at home, because certain nobles of Ithaca and of the
islands round about would have my mother choose a
husband from among them, and meanwhile they devour my
substance."

Menelaüs said: "They will certainly be punished for
their wrong-doing. So a hind lays her young in a
lion's den, but when the lion comes back, he slays both
her and her fawn. So will Ulysses slay these Suitors,
for he will most certainly come back. But now
[122] I
will tell you all that I know. In my travels I went to
the land of Egypt, and when I wished to sail homeward,
I could not, for the winds were against me. There is
an island opposite the mouth of the Nile, which is the
great river of Egypt. There I stayed, not of my own
choice, for twenty days, till all our food was eaten
up. Truly we had all perished, I and my men, but that
one of the goddesses of the sea had pity on us. She
was the daughter of a sea god, and one day as I sat
alone, for my men were wandering about fishing with
hooks for anything that they might catch, she stood by
me and said: 'Surely this is a foolish thing that you
do, sitting here till you and your men die of hunger.'
I answered: 'I know not who you are, but I will tell
you the truth. It is not of my own choice that I stay;
the winds are against me, and I cannot go. Tell me,
now, whether I have offended the gods, and tell me also
how I can return to my home.' Then she said: 'I
cannot tell you these things, but there is one who can,
and that is my father Proteus. He comes
[123] here
with the sea-beasts which he herds. But you must lay
hold on him, for he will not tell you these things
except by force.' Then I asked her to tell me how this
could be done. Then she said: 'The old man comes here
at noon to a certain cave that there is by the sea, and
he brings his sea-beasts with him. Then he lies down
in the cave to sleep, and the beasts lie all round him.
That is the time for you to lay hold of him. Choose
now out of your men the three that are bravest and
strongest, and I will take them and you at daybreak and
hide you in the cave. The old man will come at noon.
First, he will count the beasts, as a shepherd counts
his sheep, and then he will lie down to sleep in the
middle of them. Then you must rush upon him, and lay
your hands upon him and hold him fast. Remember that
he will take all kind of shapes, beasts and creeping
things, and water and fire. But when he shall come
back to his proper shape, then let him go, and ask him
what you want to know, and he will tell you.' When the
goddess had
[124] said this, she dived into the sea.
So I chose three of my men, the bravest and the
strongest that there were, and we waited at the place
where the goddess had spoken to me. Just before dawn
she came out of the sea, bringing four skins of
sea-beasts with her. And she took us into the cave,
and dug out hiding places for us in the sand, and
wrapped the skin of a sea-beast about each of us, and
made us lie down in the places which she had dug out.
She wrapped the skins about us in order that the old
man might take us for sea-beasts. Now the beasts had
been just killed, and the smell of them was such as
could scarcely be borne; so she took portions of
ambrosia, which is the food of the gods, and very sweet
smelling. She put a portion under the nose of each one
of us, and so we were able to endure the smell of the
beasts. So we waited all the morning. At noon the old
man came from the sea, and the beasts came with him,
and went into the cave and lay down on the sand. And
the old man went along the line, and counted the
beasts, counting us
[125] with the rest, and he did not
perceive our device. This done, he lay down to sleep
in the midst of the herd. Then we rushed upon him, and
held him fast. He took many shapes, a lion, and a
snake, and a panther, and a wild boar, yes, and running
water, and a tree covered with flowers. All the while
we held him fast. But when he was come back to his
proper shape, we let him go. Then he said: 'Who told
you how to beguile me?' To this I made no answer, for
why should I make mischief between him and his
daughter? But I said: 'Tell me now the things that I
desire to know. I am kept fast in this island; tell me
how I can escape.' He said: 'You are kept here by the
gods; if you had done proper sacrifice to them before
you set sail, you had been near to your home by this
time. But now go back to Egypt, and do sacrifices, as
is proper, and the gods will give you your desire.' It
troubled me to hear this, for I desired to go homeward
and not back to Egypt. But I said: 'There is yet
another thing which I would hear. Tell me about the
chiefs whom
[126] Nestor and I left behind us in Troy;
have they returned safely to their homes or no?' The
old man said: 'Why did you ask this question, for the
answer will make you sorry? Two only of the chiefs
perished. Ajax the Lesser was shipwrecked. He had
offended Athené, and she brake his ship with a
thunderbolt. And yet he might have escaped with his
life, for the gods of the sea helped him so that he got
to the rocks. But he boasted foolishly that he had
saved himself in spite of the gods; and when the god of
the sea heard this, he was angry, and smote the rock on
which Ajax sat, so that it was broken into two pieces,
and Ajax fell into the sea, and was drowned. And the
other chief who perished was thy own brother Agamemnon.
He came safely indeed to his own land; but there
Aegisthus wickedly killed him.' Then I said: 'There
is yet one chief of whom I wish to hear something.'
But before I could tell his name, the old man said: 'I
know of whom you are speaking. It is Ulysses of
Ithaca. Him I saw in the island of Calypso. He was
weeping, because Calypso
[127] keeps him there against
his will, and he has no companions and no ship.' And
when he had said this he plunged into the sea. Then I
went back to Egypt, and offered sacrifice to the gods,
and so came safely home, for the gods gave me a
favourable wind. And now, my son, tarry with me as long
as you will. And when you wish to depart, I will give
you a chariot and horses, and also a goodly cup."

But Telemăchus said: "Keep me not, for I would go home
as soon as may be. But as for the horses I thank you,
but I desire them not. Here you have corn, land, and
pasture, but we have none such in Ithaca. There is no
feeding land save for goats; and yet I love it."

Menelaüs answered: "You speak well and warily, as
becomes your father's son. I will therefore change the
gift. You shall have the finest cup that I have in my
house, the one that the king of Sidon gave me. It is
of silver, but the rim is finished with gold."

Then Telemăchus departed and went to his ship where it
lay at Pylos. And the
[128] crew came from Nestor's
palace, when they heard of his return, and in due
course they started for their home. Now Antinoüs had
taken a ship with twenty men, and lay in wait in the
Strait between Ithaca and Samé. But Telemăchus was
warned by Athené that he should go home by another way,
and this he did, and so escaped the danger.

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